Video 6:08
Dogs with dementia

Scientists have found that an increasing number of dogs are showing signs of dementia as they age.

Transcript

IAN HENSCHKE, PRESENTER: As the old saying goes, owners grow to resemble their dogs and it may be truer than you think.

Researchers have found that dogs like their 2 legged owners are showing increasing signs of dementia as they age.

And in both species it's due to many of the same causes.

Simon Royal has been to the Animal Welfare League to find out more about dogs with dementia.

SIMON ROYAL, REPORTER: At 17 and a half years old Caleb the blue heeler cross is more like 104 than a mere 64.

But the dog's had a full and varied life. He was 6 weeks old when he wandered into Neil Griffith's veterinary surgery.

NEIL GRIFFITHS, VET: My nurses at the time convinced me that I needed him and after some consideration, deliberation with my new wife, I took him home and Caleb means strong and courageous.

SIMON ROYAL: He should have been called Lucky.

Over the years Caleb has seen off an attacker who pulled a knife on Neil Griffiths in the surgery, then his pelvis was broken by house burglars, continuing arthritis is his reward for that, then there was a terribly car accident which Neil Griffiths says Caleb survived in better shape than he did.

NEIL GRIFFITHS: He got minor concussion, I got 13 broken bones and four weeks in hospital and three months in rehab. And three years to recover to recover to get back to work.

SIMON ROYAL: Now the old dog faces perhaps his final trial. Along with his arthritis and cataracts, Caleb has dementia.

NEIL GRIFFITHS: A bit like old people. Some days he loses it like I walked out and he was standing by the pergola barking at it, he didn't know what it was and he forgot what it was. I called him and he still hears the pitch of my voice and snapped out of it like he was in a daze, but of a haze.

Overall his quality of life today is reasonable because he can still wag his tail.

SIMON ROYAL: Caleb is not alone. Dr Paul McGreevy from the University of Sydney has done the largest study ever undertaken into dementia in dogs.

He says cases of dog dementia, like that in humans, are increasing and for similar reasons, both species are living longer and vets and doctors are getting better at diagnosing it.

DR PAUL MCGREEVY, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY: Typically a dog with dementia will show signs of failure to recognise familiar humans and familiar animals, will show signs of not being able to orientate itself around its familiar territory.

Typically it may get stuck at the hinge side of a door for instance.

SIMON ROYAL: He says dementia is diagnosed in only 4 per cent of dogs, but Paul McGreevy believes the true rate is closer to 14 per cent.

One of the results of his study is a website allowing pet owners to check whether their dog may have symptoms of dementia.

As with humans, nothing will heal the hound, it's a matter of living with it. Neil Griffith prefers not to use drugs; managing Caleb by keeping his environment familiar and ensuring that Dahla the Whippet is a constant companion.

NEIL GRIFFITHS: That's very much part of his therapy, is that he's never lonely. Nothing changes.

We don't change anything in the yard in case he injures himself.

It's very easy for him with cataracts, of course, being nearly blind to injure himself anyway, but with dementia it adds another dimension to the problem.

DR CHRIS LEE: We do use three or four different drugs nowadays to try to improve blood flow to the brain as well as improve the neurotransmitters in the brain and those have been able, all those individual aspects are equally important and we can get a big improvement.

DENIS SPIZZO: There's no question of having the dog, and so we can enjoy him for a few more years, basically.

SIMON ROYAL: Paul McGreevy says some of the drugs used to treat dementia in humans are being used with dogs and because pets and their owners do resemble one another, he believes there's huge potential for advancement.

PAUL MCGREEVY: This is where the dog as animal model of human behaviour is exciting because there are so many dogs out there and we're appreciating how many of them are living longer and dementing that they offer a research environment for us to trial new therapies that could eventually be of use to humans.

SIMON ROYAL: There's one final treatment, though, that's essential for an old dog to have a happy dotage and that, the vets say, is a willing owner.

NEIL GRIFFITHS: If the owner is not coping with the dog, the dog is not going to be able to cope.

PAUL MCGREEVY: The better prepared an owner is for what's coming the more understanding they are. We know that older dogs need their owners more and sadly, many older dogs are pushed away by their owners.

SIMON ROYAL: And there is no need for that.

Neil Griffith says he won't let Caleb's life become miserable, but even with dementia that day is still some way off, and even though he has no notion of what a pergola is, Caleb's tail is still wagging.

IAN HENSCHKE: And if you want information about dog dementia, there is the website as Simon Royal said.